GOSPORT SCOUT KAYAK
COURSES
END OF 29th
SEASON REPORT 2014
Some of our three star kayakers at Fareham Quay
Another successful year marked by an increase in our qualified coaches, with six more of our team, Richard Whiteley, Peter Cole, Peter Whiteley, Kyle Grady, Alex Merrifield and Zac Warren all now qualified to see the scouts through to completion of their courses and Nicholas Goldring completed L1 training.
These and our other coaches lead by L3 coach John Crossland have helped scouts and guides to achieve BCU certificates; 72 Passport, 27 Discover, 8 Two star, 7 Three star and 5 our own Junior Instructor grade. This brings to 3830 the number who have satisfactorily completed our courses.
The number of succesful three stars and new coaches seems to indicate that we have adjusted well to the new BCU rules.
We have to thank most sincerely the nineteen adults and sixteen teenagers who helped to achieve these results.
The most hardworking teenager, coaching at 52 sessions and helping on 5 journeys, was Kyle Grady who is awarded our Junior Instructor of the year trophy and we are pleased to see him starting on a career as a coach.
We were very proud when Peter Whiteley passed out as a Lieutenant at Dartmouth and was awarded the Queen’s Sword as top of the year, but he still coaches for us while now based nearby.
We continued to offer evening taster sessions which was taken up by 10 Cub packs (173 Cubs), 11 Scout troops (172 Scouts), 2 Explorer Scout units (24 Explorers), 3 Guide companies (31 Guides), 12 children from Chernoble and 15 adults who were about to paddle across the Solent in support of swimmers.
This means we have given taster sessions to nearly 7000 in 25 years.
Four of our leaders also ran a British Canoeing ‘Go Canoeing’ day for the public attracting 80 people.
Our 12 week kayak rolling course at St.Edmunds School pool was repeated for 24 pupils lead by three coaches, very many thanks to the school.
For Discover courses there were six journeys, six for Two Star and ten Three Star journeys ending with an ‘around Portsea Island paddle’, lead by John Crossland.
Some of our team took part in the Hamble River Raid, the Basingstoke Canal Challenge, the Solent Regatta and two mini regattas on our lake. Ten of our senior coaches took part in our traditional Christmas holiday freezer paddle up Southampton water.
Once again several of our coaches lead the water activities for Sea Scouts at HMS Bristol for two weeks. As always we were very lucky with the weather with only four out of the hundred plus sessions in the rain here on the Hampshire riviera.
We are very grateful to ‘Sport England’ through the National Lottery for a grant which will enable the purchase of Sea Kayaks to help with the Three Star journeys for the more advanced pupils.
Gosport Scout Kayak
Courses
28th End of Season Report 2013
This
was a good year for our three stars, six having successfully completed the two year course for Sea Kayak.
They are seen above with some of the coaches at the start of their final paddle
on the Solent.
Another
good year in fact for all the pupils on our BCU courses
at Stoke Lake, Alverstoke with 92 completing the Passport, 21 completing Discover, 9 achieving
Two star and
8
completing our own ‘Junior Instructor’ training course .Add to this our
congratulations
to
the following who achieved coaching status – Richard Whiteley, Pete Cole,
Nathan Cole, Rachel Johnson and Freddie Haden-Brown. This brings to 38 the number of those joining
our courses who have subsequently become coaches.
In addition to the 167 pupils on the 12
courses on the lake this year there were over 600 on the 44 taster sessions
including 250 cubs from 14 Packs, 200 Scouts from 19 Troops, 60 Explorers from 5 Units, 80 Guides and Rangers from 5
Companies,12 children from Chernobyl and 12 RN members. We believe this contributes quite well to BCU’s
‘Go Canoeing’
programme. Finally
25 attended the 12 week kayak rolling course which we ran at the pool in
St. Edmund’s School, Portsmouth for
whose help we are very grateful.
All this could not have been achieved
without a lot of effort from the coaches, lead by John Crossland with the other
adults –Allan Davey, Peter Knott, Richard Whiteley, Pete Cole, Nathan Cole,
Peter Whiteley, Chris and Robert Vine, Nick Peacock, Ann Bourne, Tony Hyde,
Andy and Rachel Johnson, Paul Heaney, Luke Marshall, Christine Fox and Chris
King. They were helped by 23 teenagers from time to time. Foremost amongst
these was Aiden Grant who helped at 52 sessions and is awarded the ‘Young
Instructors Trophy’ for 2013. Details of the Coaches, instructors, pupils and
tasters are attached
A total of thirteen journeys were paddled,
mostly in the Solent. Eighteen took part
in the Basingstoke Canal challenge, winning five medals, several took part in
the Solent Regatta and other events.
Many thanks to
all the above and to the 5th Gosport group who lent us four sea
kayaks for the journeys and their HQ for the theory sessions.
Ken
Greenwood, Courses organiser.
Gosport Kayak Instructors Christmas Journey 2010
After another successful season’s paddling the year reached its climax for Ken’s Gosport Scouts Kayak Instructors Circus. After the overindulgences of Christmas it was time to work them off with a paddle into the unknown. Titchfield Haven was inaccessible since the icebreakers had not managed to clear a passage through the ice and free up the channel. The advance party advised that it should be possible to launch from Salterns since , due to a freak of nature, a breakaway current from the Gulf Stream was holidaying in the Solent and was keeping the ice at bay. fourteen intrepid, or perhaps foolhardy paddlers therefore unloaded their boats and gear amongst the ice on the foreshore. Once again the gang was led by John Crossland who called a council of war to determine where to go. Despite being reasonably mild the forecast was predicting more lively conditions. It was decided that the voyage would set off to discover what lay over the horizon where there was an Island lost in a time warp. John recalled having been there before and hoped that they would be able to find it again. Most of the team got together for a team photo comprising The group might have included Andy, Chris, Fiona, James,Trebor,Pete,Nathan,Peter,John,John,Peter, Matt and Allan.
John called up the coastguard, Harbour Control , his stockbroker and a few friends and the flotilla took to the water. You might have noticed that once again I didn’t manage to join the team. I put this down to Peter having promised my boat to Nathan, a nasty back twinge before Christmas and a dose of common sense. I did however help carry boats into the sea and assist with the launch for those who for some reason didn’t want to get their feet wet, and of course indulged in a dose of creative writing. According to the Captains Log they got about halfway to wherever it was that they were going when the threatened storm blew up along with a heavy swell amongst the ice floes and an ice storm and the local fauna. A bit concerned about the heavy going John made an executive decision to change course to Stokes Bay. So he and Matt gathered up the fleet and set off.
Landfall was made at Stokes Bay when they worked out where it was. When the team landed two disappeared into the interior whilst the others took on refreshments They waited and waited but James and Pete still doesn’t come back. What should they do? Losing two out of 14 exceeded John’s usual acceptable 10% attrition rate. What should be done, would they be safe? Were the natives hostile, would everyone be back for tea and medals? Then a brainwave. They weren’t lost at sea but on land. So John’s statistics weren’t exceeded and the trip could go on.
So off they set off back to Salterns. I in the meantime was doing battle with ice in the sailing club to retrieve my dinghy. I kept rushing to the sea wall to see the fleet coming back from the Isle of Wight. However they were actually hugging the coast and were already back when I got to the rendezvous. I counted them out and I counted most of them back. Another successful trip completed. The names of people mentioned in this article haven’t been changed to protect their dignity. The photos were staged by actors to get round data protection concerns. The events recorded above are loosely based on facts, heresay and a dose of a lively imagination. No-one was eaten by natives ( I hope) or really got lost and no walruses were hurt in the staging of this expedition.
The Scribe January 2011
Adrian Durrant 4th Squirt, 49th K1 European Freestyle Championships, Austria 2010
www.paddle4play.blogspot.com
Some good news recently with of our former students
Gavin Smallbones is now BCU RDO for Cumbria. He was in the 1st Lee and did his two and three star with us in 1987/8 and then helped for five years.
I've also heard recently from his best friend, also in 1st Lee, Neil Cooke, he is now an Activity Centre manager. He did the two and three star at the same time but he stayed on and helped for 8 years.
'Little acorns grow'
Adrian Durrant, 1st Place Irish Championships Squirt 3rd Place Mens Expert C1, 1st Place Irish freestyle league squirt. 11th Place World Freestyle championships (squirt)
CONGRATULATIONS to
Peter Whiteley and Alan Oakes both successfully assessed Level two coaches.
Alex Durkan 4 A*,2 A,3 B,3 C. Rebecca Fieldsend 2 A*,5 A,4 B,1 C. Beth’s sister.
Kayak Instructors Christmas Journey 2008
Christmas appears to come round on a regular basis and on Dec 28 Ken’s gang to brave the elements once more.
This year John Crossland couldn’t make it and the organisation fell to David Lord. The idea was for an expedition up the uncharted regions of Southampton water. OK , so they are charted but it doesn’t sound so good. It wasn’t actually a midnight paddle either but it was crack of dawn.
Scraping the ice off the car we headed off for Netley on a bright and pleasant morning The team converged on Beach Road to prepare for the trip. This year we had some of the young instructors with us. The intention was to paddle up Southampton water to Eling Tide Mill and back.
I was fortunate to hack into a passing spy satellite during their briefing to see the route being explained. Fully briefed and eager for the off the team entered into a ritual of some sort. Of course it could simply have been warming up exercises and it was somewhat parky………………...
th it was time forAdi, Allan, Lisa,Chris,Andy,Rachel,Trebor, Nathan,Pete and Dave
The off was a little later than planned, but off the intrepid fleet sailed. Well paddled. Despite the sunshine and apparent calm there was a cold wind blowing at force 5 so the flotilla hugged the eastern side of Southampton water.
Eling Tide Mill kept moving out of reach and the gang landed for a lunch break….under the tent flysheet. The return again skirted the eastern shore to avoid the worst of the wind.
This took the fleet past several notable sights.
This year didn’t see the excitement of last year with the icebergs and the polar bears, but it was a good introduction to the youngsters to the Christmas paddle. The only significant wildlife encountered was a potentially killer seagull lying in wait at the landing beach. A seagull, vicious I here you say, never. Well how do you explain Allan being capsized within metres of the shore.
Eh ????
Having got back safely with only minor frostbite , Adi performed some other strange ritual…
And so another paddle down the kayak map of discovery resulted in a another notch on the paddle of success and the gang drifted back to all points of Hampshire to look forward to the new Kayak season.
The Scribe
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